No excuses now: we must bring home this trophy.
15 comments December 1st, 2010
Arsenal 2 – 0 Wigan (Alcaraz 41 (og), Bendtner 67)
Highlights | Arsene’s reaction
We never had to come out of first gear to win the game…
Once Victor Moses departed with a dislocated shoulder, Wigan’s resistance disappeared. He had been their brightest spark, but without his counter-attacking verve they weren’t much of a threat. One Alcaraz scored his own-goal there was no escape for Wigan (b-dum). The second half was played at exhibition pace, and only some slack finishing on our part prevented it from becoming a rout.
West Ham’s victory over Man United makes us favourites for the cup…
When was the last time we were legitimately favourite to win any sort of silverware? Discounting the Emirates Cup? It’s an unusual position for us to be in, but one that’ll be important for our relatively inexperienced squad’s development. Tonight two from Birmingham, Villa, West Brom and Ipswich will join us and West Ham in the semi-finals. We have no excuses for not winning this tournament now. Whatever you make of the Carling Cup, having some silverware on the table before February is out would be a hell of a fillip.
The Carling Cup is some fans’ only chance of a ticket…
…but that doesn’t excuse some of their behaviour. Sorry to go all Scrooge on you at this time of year, but three pitch invasions in one game just isn’t funny. Maybe if they’d been naked I’d have been impressed. Especially in that cold. But simply running on the pitch and getting yourself a ban is no way to behave. Tell that to Karl Henry, I suppose.
The ‘Carling Cup Philosophy’ isn’t completely dead…
Although we’ve certainly brought more established players in to the Carling Cup side, it’s worth pointing out that we still give games to some very young players. Szczesny is 20, Wilshere 18, and Gibbs, Walcott and Vela all 21. For the likes of Szczesny and Gibbs this experience is invaluable: they’re far too good for the Reserves or even to be loaned out, but can’t necessarily be relied on to play every week in the Premier League. The role the domestic cups play in granting them games remains vital – if anything, it’s become more beneficial as they now play alongside senior pros. Gibbs, by the way, was outstanding last night and is beginning to put Gael Clichy under significant pressure.
The same can’t be said for Carlos Vela…
After a week in which his brother has ‘threatened’ Arsenal with the possibility of losing Vela, the Mexican striker needed a big performance to remind Arsene Wenger of his quality. Whilst he did produce one brilliant cross for the second goal, Vela also conspired to miss several one-on-one chances you would usually expect him to take. Watching from the bench, Jay Emmanuel Thomas must have felt slightly frustrated. Presented with the same opportunities, he would surely have opened his Arsenal account. Instead, he got just six minutes at the end of the game. With Wellington Silva set to provide yet more competition come January, Vela could be running out of time to make the impact his early promise suggested he would be capable of.
Robin van Persie showed some flashes of quality…
Two of the chances Vela missed were created by quite exquisite back-flicks from his Dutch team-mate. The fitness levels might not be quite there yet, but the touch is, and whilst I think Chamakh deserves to keep his place for now, Robin is undoubtedly a fantastic option to have on the bench. As the season progresses he should improve – injuries notwithstanding. Touch something wooden. Quickly.
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Right. Two games from a trip to a Wembley Final. Doesn’t sound too bad, does it?
